WWYD 2 year old Invoice

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XxCoriexX

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Ok so I don't want to put too much information on here for obvious reasons, but basically I have a service carried out (horse related) and although I repeatedly asked for an invoice for about 6 months after the service I was never given one. Now this person is in contact with numerous people on the yard so it was very easy for them to invoice me....however the work was carried out in the summer of 2014 and because I was never told how much it was going to be I never paid. Please remember that I repeatedly asked for 6 months for a price so that I could pay and never received one......
Now fast forward two years later and this person has told someone else on the yard that they still need to invoice me for the work.....

Would you pay if they sent you an invoice after 2 years has passed?

I was happy enough with the service but to be honest it was 2 years ago!!

Not sure what to do....they still have not told me how much it is but I would assume we are talking in the region of £100 - £200, and I don't have that money sitting around at the moment

What would you do????
 
Yes, of course I would pay even though the work was done two years ago. You fully admit that you haven't yet paid for the work so you still owe it.
 
I don't see that you have any choice but to pay up. However, you haven't actually received the invoice yet, so maybe get saving pronto! If they are that slow at getting invoices out, you may still have a few months before they get round to doing it lol
 
that would be fine if there was a 28 day period for me to pay, he has said to others that he has a strict 10 day policy after the date of the invoice!

Will just have to wait and see what the invoice says
 
XxCoriexX said:
that would be fine if there was a 28 day period for me to pay, he has said to others that he has a strict 10 day policy after the date of the invoice!

Will just have to wait and see what the invoice says
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I think that is unfair, obviously you could have put a certain amount by waiting until they got round to letting you have the invoice but life tends to take over and after such a long time waiting it seems fair to allow a similar lapse between billing and receiving payment, not that leaving it another 2 years makes sense but he should be more than happy to accept it in a few stages as he has obviously not needed the money before now.
I am not sure how he would stand if he tried to take action for non payment if you did make him wait a few weeks.
 
XxCoriexX said:
that would be fine if there was a 28 day period for me to pay, he has said to others that he has a strict 10 day policy after the date of the invoice!

Will just have to wait and see what the invoice says
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Seriously, if he takes 2 yrs to invoice he's hardly going to be quick at chasing non payment. I would suggest making a payment on account if you haven't got the funds at the moment and perhaps some post dated cheques, but at the end of the day you were happy with the service so will need to pay one way or another.
 
It was apparenly common around here (sheep country) to pay bills once a year, after sheep sales in the autumn. But not now.

If you have received a service or goods and are invoiced, of course you must pay, and, yes, I think it would be reasonable to pay 28 days after the end of the current month.

On the other hand, I've occasionally receive no invoice at all. At the time I was working with some whizz kid American who graduated from one of the top business schools and he said not to ask for an invoice, stating, "It is not your business to do his bookkeeping for him". That might be OK for the big boys but I tend to take a more generous attitude with small business. I'm about to remind my neighbour that he hasn't yet invoiced me for the baling he did in July -- but that doesn't mean I won't pull his leg a bit by saying he baled half the amount of bales he actually did! It's OK, he will remember that bit! :D
 
So they've forgotten for the last 2 years despite you nagging, happen to have remembered on a recent visit to the yard, nothing to say they are actually going to manage it, I would wait and see
 
Sorry OP but whilst the people that are so tardy in sending out an invoice frankly amaze me with their slackness as regards paperwork and thus ensuring the prompt payment for work done, this in turn doesn't excuse you for now holding your hands in the air and saying "sorry but I can't afford it right now". Presumably you budgeted for this amount two years ago? And were prepared to pay the amount within a reasonable time-span? Yes?

If you had the work done, you will have to pay, simples. Work done, invoice received (belatedly, but still received nonetheless), so therefore no option but to pay up promptly and look sweet.

One option might be perhaps if cash doesn't come to hand freely at the moment, you could ask if you could use your credit card to pay??
 
If you want to be free of the debt then the only way to do this is to send them a recorded letter saying that you need to be invoiced in the next 28 days or you are writing off the debt. That will get u an answer one way or the other. If it's a farmer they are useless at invoicing.
 
blitznbobs said:
If you want to be free of the debt then the only way to do this is to send them a recorded letter saying that you need to be invoiced in the next 28 days or you are writing off the debt. That will get u an answer one way or the other. If it's a farmer they are useless at invoicing.
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I wouldn't recommend doing this. It won't have effect legally and could actually work against you. As someone above mentioned debts become unenforceable after 6 years from the date they were last acknowledged so sending this type of letter would start the clock ticking again.

If it were me I would pay the debt if asked, even although 2 years has passed, but I would not actively chase this up.
 
Yes, I would pay the bill but if they've waited 2 years to send the invoice then IMO they can wait a month or so until you can get the money together.

If they get arsey just keep pointing out that you chased up the invoice years ago & they chose to not send it to you. If you don't have the money spare at the moment because they waited so long then they will have to wait until you do.
 
XxCoriexX said:
Not sure what to do....they still have not told me how much it is but I would assume we are talking in the region of £100 - £200, and I don't have that money sitting around at the moment

What would you do????
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well as you know you are going to have to pay around £200 (the amount doesn't matter much) I would start saving it up and keep it in my bank account until I was invoiced. Just sit on the money until they want it.
 
Ring-fence the money in a cash ISA and if they do eventually invoice you, you have the money to cover it plus it has earned you 20p in interest. If they don't invoice you and disappear then you keep the money. Win-Win situation.
 
paddy555 said:
well as you know you are going to have to pay around £200 (the amount doesn't matter much) I would start saving it up and keep it in my bank account until I was invoiced. Just sit on the money until they want it.
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True - and if you can't afford to pay in full within the time they specify, make an offer of payment (and stick to it.) See https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/replyingtoacountycourtclaim/replyingtoaccj.aspx for more information on what might happen and what you should do.
 
dixie said:
Seriously, if he takes 2 yrs to invoice he's hardly going to be quick at chasing non payment. I would suggest making a payment on account if you haven't got the funds at the moment and perhaps some post dated cheques, but at the end of the day you were happy with the service so will need to pay one way or another.
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No use in post dating cheques. It's only an agreement between you and the person you are giving the cheque to. They can still pay those cheques in earlier than the date listed on them and the bank will still try to clear them.
 
Many years ago I had some work done on a lorry, it was quite a lot. I kept asking for the bill and never got it, even went round to the house. We always pay our bills so in the end I added up all that I thought had cost, but really had no idea about the labour but added an amount for that and took the cash round to the house, saying I would pay any extra when they sent me the bill. Never heard anything. Now people are always complaining about non payers but this was just under £1k, and expected it to be a bit more.
I would send them what you think the cost should be and wait for response. I can not stand owing anything.
 
EmmaC78 said:
I wouldn't recommend doing this. It won't have effect legally and could actually work against you. As someone above mentioned debts become unenforceable after 6 years from the date they were last acknowledged so sending this type of letter would start the clock ticking again.

If it were me I would pay the debt if asked, even although 2 years has passed, but I would not actively chase this up.
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Clocks already set back to zero as it has been mentioned recently
 
Kezzabell2 said:
I always pay on the day, in cash, without an invoice!
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I agree about paying on the day as I try to do the same.

But no invoice? I assume that means no receipt too, which is foolish. Receipts are worth money.

A malicious acquaintance reported me to the Inland Revenue for dealing in cash and not declaring my pofits. I wish! I had to present myself and my books at the local tax office for inspection.

Several months later, my accounts and my egg box of randomly filed receipts were returned to me. The receipts had all been carefully sorted and clipped in dated sequences. Along with my documents I was given a little book telling me how to file stuff and a lecture about book keeping ending with the words, "We won't be inspection YOU again!"

But it's OK, several egg boxes later, they haven't been back. The moral of the story is to accumulate as many pieces of paper as possible. Best to leave your egg box exposed to the sun streaming through the window of your spare bedroom. That way the writing on those silly little receips will fade and make them harder to read. The tax man will only bother you once! It's called "one lesson learning".

BTW, they declared me innocent as I am a farmer and most farmers don't make a profit anyway. You've got to make a profit before you pay tax! But still keep the paper.
 
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